We are called to be transformed in this life now: May 1 Sermon

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen.

Our faith in Jesus Christ is not meant to be focused only on what will happen after we die.  That is, although we know that as members of the body of Christ we are inheritors of eternal life, we aren’t really called to be Christian because of what our Christianity will bring us in the world to come.  We are called to be transformed in this life now—the life we live in this world.  The world as it is, and we as we are, are called to transforming and transformational living in God.  Just recently Jo commented on the troublesome trend of some Christians focusing far more on the promise of eternal life than how God’s promises matter to us in the here and now.

Of course, when we look at our mortality we do want to know that there is hope for us in what comes after death.  The great mystery that awaits us all can be terrifying to some, and we want, we need, comfort and hope for our fears, peace for our troubled hearts.  As Karoline Lewis states in her letter this week on the Working Preacher website, we want to know that in the life in the world to come, we will have companionship—company to be with us.  We will not be alone.

This is part of the promise we find Jesus making in the Gospel for today.  Jesus assures that he will not leave his disciples alone.  They will not be left orphans; although they will no longer have Jesus with them, they will not be alone.  The Spirit will come to them.  Also called the Paraclete, the helper, the one who comes along side—is a promise: You won’t walk alone.

As part of Jesus’ farewell discourse to his disciples on the night of his betrayal, what we have in today’s Gospel is much like Jesus’ last will and testament.  These days we write wills to tell those we love what we are leaving them when we are no longer by their side.  Often times it seems to boil down to the things that we possess and who will take ownership of our stuff.  Yet, part of the writing of a will is a reflection on what it is you want those you love to hold onto about you, what of you they will care for and carry on.  Beyond the physical items what are the spiritual inheritances?

Jesus knows that he will soon be killed.  As he is preparing himself for his own death, he is also preparing his disciples for their lives without him.  “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid.”  With the Advocate we will not be alone, with the peace of Jesus, we need not be afraid. 

Peace.  In his reflection this week David Lose distinguishes between the peace of this world and the peace that Jesus intended to leave.  Peace as we understand it in the world today seems a fleeting moment of rest between battles, battles with our children, our parents, our spouses, our coworkers, as well as the greater battles among peoples and nations.  Peace as we know it is rarely long, rarely enduring.  I have to agree with David Lose on this one—I just don’t think that is what Jesus meant…I really hate to think that we only get to truly rest in peace when we are dead.  Surely Jesus had something more in mind with this promise.

Jesus left the first disciples, and the disciples for all time, the Spirit, so that we would not be alone.  Maybe that same Spirit contributes to the peace that is our promise.  In Acts, Lydia invites the disciples into her home.  This offer of hospitality is an invitation to togetherness and a promise, you don’t need to be alone.  The peace of this place is for you.

When we look one another in the eyes and we recognize the face of Jesus in one another we can extend the peace.  We can maybe make it last a little longer.  When we share the peace of Christ each week is it really Christ’s peace we are sharing?  Do we maybe, sometimes, rush through it to get on with the service.  Do I rush to prepare the table, sometimes forgetting what and who I am preparing it for, and who is with me?  We know that offering and communion and one more song and we will be out the door and on our way.  Do we sometimes rush?  Do we share the peace of Jesus or is it the peace of the moment and move along?

Maybe the point of sharing the peace is not shaking as many hands as we can in the few minutes we have.  Maybe it isn’t about turning to the people we know best or sit closest to.  Maybe while we are here in this place we might take time with just one or two people to look them in the eyes and offer the peace that God and Christ Jesus offer.  Maybe we don’t rush so much. 

I don’t claim making the peace we share last longer will help us to carry that peace longer.  I have no intention of timing us or testing us.  I just want to be open to that peace that I have been promised.  That peace that I confess, I do not often feel.

We are welcomed into this place to share in the peace and carry it with us into the world, to walk alongside others that they may know it too.

Will you join me in sharing the peace of Jesus?